The five-hour event on June 12 organized by the Medina County Schools' Educational Service Center transportatioin department included scenarios of what drivers should do when a stranger or angry parent attempts to board the bus, when a tornado or other storm occurs in the middle of a route, or if dispatch notifies them of a bomb threat or an actual bomb detonates on their bus.

Bonnie McNeely, pre-service secretary and transportation coordinator for Medina ESC, said 69 districts participated as well as representatives from First Student. Also in attendance was the Council for Economic Opportunity, which operates approximately 80 school buses in the state, plus another 165 invitees that included state legislators.

She added that she got the idea for a mock school bus explosion from an NAPT event held in Cincinnati in 2005, where police bomb squad personnel detonated one pound of C4 explosives on a school bus. Friday's event only simulated an explosion on a school bus using a flash bang and theater smoke, but the back exit door was rigged to blow off its hinges. The incident occurred because, as the script went, the driver failed to perform a pre-trip inspection that would have turned up a backpack placed beneath a seat. Instead, a child on the bus discovered it.

Medina ESC also worked with local fire departments and the Transportation Security Administration on planning the exercise. William Arrington, GM of TSA's Office of Highway and Motorcarrier, was on hand along with Charles Hall of contractor HMS Company to share information with drivers on the new First Observer Program. TSA also reviewed a script provided by Medina ESC.

“We certainly wanted to weigh in and participate,” said Arrington. “I was really impressed. It was really done first class.”